Harmison as captain
Harmison doesn't strike me as an obvious candidate for captaincy so I thought I'd check how he was going as captain of Durham v Sri Lanka A. Durham are bowling and it seems that he decided that he shouldn't open the bowling. He then decided he shouldn't be first change either. Then rather than introducing himself as second change, he brought back Luke Evans, the opening bowler who had gone for 41 from 5 overs - you can see the scorecard here. I wouldn't bet on him coming on second change the way things are going! Wouldn't a Harmison/Onions opening partnership be the best available to Durham?
Harmison as a captain....what are your thoughts? A bit too self-effacing for my liking...
2 comments:
I suspect he isn't fit to bowl: three weeks after a hernia operation seems much too soon. The previous pictures of him "bowling" on TV showed him moving (I wouldn't call it running) up to the wicket very gingerly and rather reluctantly turning the arm over. A hernia is effectively a torn stomach muscle, I would think he'd be very unwise to stretch himself before it's completely healed.
Even when fully fit, he's done nothing in recent years to suggest that he should be recalled to the England team immediately: let's see some decent performances at county level first.
The Telegraph suggested earlier in the week that at the Oval England would miss Harmison and Flintoff more than Hoggard, because of the bounce they could get there. Flintoff maybe, but pace and bounce isn't much use without any control over length and direction as with Harmison, especially against the Indian batting line-up, each of whom is more than capable of putting away the bad balls.
As for Harmison as captain, the selectors must surely be having a laugh?!
I see Harmison has now brought himself on 4th change and is currently going at nearly 9 an over...
Post a Comment